Syrian refugees are seen at Fiumicino Airport in Rome on 29 February. The United Nations is urging countries around the world to accept nearly half a million Syrian refugees.(photo: CNS/EPA)

U.N. Chief urges countries to take in more Syrian refugees(The New York Times) Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called on Wednesday for countries around the world to accept around half a million Syrian refugees, criticizing political leaders who have responded to the migrant crisis by demonizing asylum-seekers. Opening a one-day ministerial conference in Geneva convened by the United Nations refugee agency, Mr. Ban called for “an exponential increase in global solidarity” in urging countries to accept about 480,000 Syrians over the next three years...

Aid to besieged areas of Syria has reportedly increased since cease fire(AP) A new report says the United Nations and partners delivered badly needed medical and food supplies to about 150,000 people in besieged areas of Syria after a cease-fire that started last month led to a drop-off in fighting. U.N. convoys delivered supplies to people in 10 of 18 areas under siege and to thousands in other, hard-to-reach areas after the 27 February cease-fire, according to the monthly report made available Tuesday. By comparison, less than 1 percent of areas designated as besieged received food aid in all of 2015, according to the U.N.’s humanitarian office...

Child labor rising in Gaza(Reuters) Child labor has risen sharply in Gaza, where youngsters toiling in garages and on construction sites have become breadwinners for families feeling the brunt of the Palestinian enclave’s 43 percent unemployment rate...

Doubts over new government in Ukraine(Vatican Radio) Ukraine’s prospects of forming a new government, which is vital to get billions of dollars in crucial international assistance, were thrown into fresh doubt on Tuesday...

Reports: Turkish government “expropriates” churches(Fides) In the context of the military operations carried out in southern Turkey against Kurdish positions of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, the government in Ankara ordered the expropriation of a large area of the historical center of Diyarbakir, even confiscating all the churches of the city which stands on the bank of the Tigris River. This is what local sources reported, relaunched by Agos, the Turkish-Armenian bilingual newspaper published in Istanbul...